The present invention relates to a roller track for the transport or storage of goods supported thereon and, more particularly, to a roller track having a plurality of serially arranged rollers whose axial ends are rotatably mounted to a pair of profiles extending in side-by-side spaced relation to one another, whereby the profiles are provided with a structure for securing the axles of the rollers which is in the form of cutouts or holes.
Roller tracks are used in the field of transport and in the field of storage. In their implementation in the field of storage, roller tracks are often slightly inclined such that the goods supported thereon tend to roll toward the lower end of the roller track in a self-driven manner due to the influence of gravity. Such roller tracks are used, for example, in the context of consignment warehousing.
One known type of roller track is configured with a plurality of smaller, neighboring as well as serially arranged, freely rollable rollers. It is also known to use cylindrically shaped rollers which extend entirely across the width of the respective roller track and define at the same time the support surface for the goods to be supported. The disposition of the rollers is accomplished by axles extending from both axial ends of the rollers which are mounted in metal profiles which extend pairwise in side-by-side spaced arrangement to one another. The metal profiles can, additionally, be extended to engage the sides of the goods to thereby act as side guides to the goods. To this end, the vertical flanges of the metal profile are lengthened so that they form an edge which is above the plane of the roller track.
For an economical installation of such roller tracks, a significant impact can be had by the installation of the rollers in fixedly supported portions of the roller track, that is, the installation of the rollers in metal profiles arranged in side-by-side spaced disposition to one another. Roller tracks of this type include rollers having inner springs which resiliently bias the axles in a direction axially outwardly of the roller. In the installation of the metal profiles, whose vertical flanges are provided with corresponding holes, each roller is initially disposed so that one of its axles is received in a respective hole of the profile, the roller is then pushed toward the respective profile which has just received the respective axle, and the axle at the other axial end of the roller is then brought into alignment with a respective hole on the other profile, whereupon the inner spring at the other axial end of the roller biases that axle into its seated disposition in the hole in the other profile. The removal or dismounting of the roller follows in a similar manner.
Rollers of the type just described are relatively expensive due to the provision of the additional springs as well as the relatively high assembly effort required to dispose the axially movable axles in the rollers. Additionally, the installation of such rollers and, especially, the automatic installation of such rollers, is difficult to configure, as the placement of the rollers between the profiles requires the simultaneous execution of various movements; specifically, the insertion of the axially movable axle into the roller on the one hand and the lowering or maneuvering of the other axial end of the roller into position on the other hand.